The residents of several Arab towns in northern Israel were placed under lockdown on Wednesday after a severe outbreak of coronavirus in the area. According to Channel 12 News, police and military forces were called to the area to enforce the order,
The Health Ministry imposed the measure on four Arab villages in the Galilee: Deir al-Assad, Nahf, Ba'ana and Majd al-Kroum. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Galilee spiked from five to 23 on Wednesday and to a total of 31.
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Arab communities were excluded by the Passover curfew imposed by the government on Israeli cities until Thursday morning, requiring a special order from the Health Ministry.
Joint Arab List MK Yousef Jabareen urged the Health Ministry to increase testing in the area, tweeting, "I am warning [the ministry] yet again about worryingly low rates of [coronavirus] testing in the Arab communities, one that may lead to a catastrophe of unseen proportions.
"The Arab sector is missing tens of thousands of tests that should be carried out immediately, so we would be able to have a better picture compared to the general population. The Arab citizens constitute 20% of the population, yet they are less than 10% of all those tested" for coronavirus.
Joint Arab List MK Dr. Ahmad Tibi, who heads the Knesset's Health Committee, said Wednesday that he had reached an agreement with Magen David Adom emergency services chief Eli Bin and Deir al-Assad council head Ahmed Dabbah on opening a drive-in coronavirus testing facility in the village.
MDA has been tasked with performing the coronavirus tests nationwide.
Tibi reportedly asked the village's residents to call MDA and get tested in case symptoms appear.
"We have all joined to combat the spread of coronavirus. Follow the Health Ministry's instructions, stay home and avoid gatherings," he said.
